Berlin was successively the capital of the Kingdom of Prussia (1701-1918), the German Empire (1871-1918), the Weimar Republic (1919-1933) and the Third Reich (1933-1945). After World War II, berlin was divided; East Berlin became the capital of East Germany while West Berlin became a Western enclave, surrounded by the Berlin Wall from 1961-1989. Following the reunification of Germany in 1990, berlin regained its status as the capital of all Germany (see berlin germany map).

 

Germany division after the war put Berlin entirely within the territory of the German Democratic Republic (GDR, or East Germany) as its shown in berlin germany map. The city itself echoed the national partition—East Berlin being the capital of East Germany and West Berlin a Land (state) of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, or West Germany). West Berlin isolation was later reinforced by the concrete barrier erected in 1961 and known as the Berlin Wall. Its status as an enclave made Berlin a continuous focus of confrontation between the Eastern and Western powers as well as a symbol of Western lifestyle for 45 years. The fall of the East German communist regime—and the accompanying opening of the wall—in late 1989 unexpectedly raised the prospect for Berlin’s reinstatement as the all-German capital.

 

Measuring approximately 23 miles (37 km) from north to south and 28 miles (45 km) from east to west, Berlin is by far the largest city in Germany (see berlin germany map). Berlin is built mainly on sandy glacial soil amid an extensive belt of forest-rimmed lakes, formed from the waters of the Dahme River to the southeast and the Havel to the west; indeed, about one-third of the Greater Berlin area is still covered by sandy pine and mixed birch woods, lakes, and beaches.